Better the Devil you know... [Lucifer}

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Burnt, lifeless and cold. He smirked darkly at the irony that now lay before him, this seemed to be the only place in or out of the city that he could find peace. A place to be alone just to think, for what good it did him... he could never keep those thoughts to himself the thoughts that day after day, week after week had begun festering inside his heart. He couldn't die, he knew that much at least she wouldn't let him. Even that was irony in itself, he was dead already as far as any 'normal' standards went. Sitting idly on a burnt, charcoal covered brick wall, he pondered his pathetic life so far. There wasn't really much to tell, he'd been over and over it so many times even his own life had ceased to give him any motivation to try and kill himself. He knew eventually he'd find a way to make it easy, that he'd find someway she couldn't piece him back together. In that way he guessed she never really had, he was still the same on the inside, no matter how much duct tape she used to patch up the outside... he was still broken.

So what was the point? How else could he escape this madness? ... perhaps the answer wasn't to escape, he didn't really want to end his life. He just wanted it to be the way it had been, god at least owed him that much... after letting that monster loose, to take everything away from him, for ruining his life. He hated Suri for her deception, why hadn't she told him? he had been honest with her, he'd given himself completely to her, body and soul. Why had she betrayed him like this? the seed of doubt had been planted, he held only distrust for his guardian angel now. Surely that in itself was a bad idea, if only there was some way he could return everything to the way it once was... to his own perfect version of heaven.

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Ah, that sensation! Licking his lips with pleasure, those black eyes of his darted to the source of pain, loss...such beautiful sorrow. Could it be that he had found the city that he could use for his...ressurection perhaps? Yes, if such pain did exsist here then surely one of the Seven had fled here. It was only a matter of time before he found them, one of them, and began his reign on earth. Pops could just get the hell over it, he was going to turn this planet upside down and have his hayday with it. And that sweet taste of bitter doubt flooded that mind again, just right below him in the warehouse. A shell of a thing really, but it had served as a meeting ground for several nights now. Let's see...he had...five souls now? Yes, he had obtained five since last night which was a plus for him.

Pathetic

Chuckling to himself as he fell off the roof of a nearby building, his black hair flew around him like a raven's wing right before he landed on two feet perfectly as if jumping off of buildings was an everyday thing. And in his case, it was come to think of it. Being immortal was bitching in his thoughts, so why not play with it? Feeling this...vampire's, yes it was a vampire, strong madness, his...want for something other than betrayal of a woman he loved. Ah, a broken heart was the best to torment indeed.

Appearing as if he had stepped out of the shadows themselves, which he had, the Prince of Darkness held a slight frown on his mouth. His eyes were deep with a concerning look, and he appeared every bit the sympathizer as he approached Orion Night. Of course this was all a put on, because otherwise he so would not be wearing just a pair of jeans and a shirt. He was always so...extravagant in his appearence. But in this case, he wanted to have the 'average Joe' look so Orion wouldn't be too suspicious. "Hey man, are you okay?" And his voie was normal, young, and quite happy sounding other than the whole bullshit caring in there that was so not for real.

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A vicious snarl erupted from deep in his stony chest, the sallow gray skin of his handsome face tightened and his icy blue eyes, the color of the most dangerous stormy seas glared at the intruder casually walking into his place of solitude. "It's none of your business!..." he snapped, quickly turning violent as he kicked the charred carcass of what was once a wooden crate harshly across the floor. The structurally deficient box went tearing across the blackened concrete floor smashing into a charred corner post where it disintegrated into a thousand pieces of blackened wood. The corner it had smashed into wobbled, now dangerously unstable before toppling over with whatever was left of the upstairs flooring, it wasn't enough to reach Orion, he just stood there muted like an overused children's toy. He'd been overused for awhile, overworked and underpaid and others had so bluntly put it. He was tired of being angry, sick of being scared of what might happen to him if he disobeyed, more than that though... he'd always known he'd been dead on the outside, immortality only gave you kicks for so long, eventually it asked for payback.

Now that she was truly gone, dead or betrayed either way it didn't matter, he couldn't get her back and it made him dead on the inside and he hated it. Feeling completely devoid of life, of any kind of normality, was sending him insane. He was beyond insane, he was full of the same uncontrollable rage, the same unwavering desire to kill... to kill anything that moved and to destroy anything and everything in sight. He was more hurt than he'd ever thought possible, sadness and sorrow had no meaning they were just words. Words had no meaning to him, there were no words to describe how he felt. The pain was beyond recognition, the sadness too overwhelming for any mortal being to bear, no... words were a mortal creation he was sure of it. He couldn't breathe either, he gave a short sad laugh at that realization, he was sure he'd been breathing a minute ago... every second without her he lost more and more of himself.

"You have no business here... leave while your still able." He added in a low growl, surveying the damage he'd just done to the already destroyed building, the remnants of a warehouse didn't hold much weight, even the blackened skeletal structure collapsed in on itself from time to time. No-one but he would notice the damage, no-one else came here but him. Yet another reason to be intolerable of caring strangers, useless human beings... so inept at even surviving a day without putting themselves in mortal peril. Straightening his own attire roughly, Orion was somewhat surprised to see a patch of soot slide off of his bare shoulder. He'd all but given up on his appearance, he wore dark blue denim jeans with a charcoal colored belt and a plain silver buckle that glinted in the moonlight but apart from that the only artifacts of questionable intent was the black leather seemingly woven around his neck as it had no end or beginning and the obsidian crescent moon that clung to the hollow of his collarbone, it ebbed and flowed a dull gray at times whenever he wasn't looking it seemed to glow brighter, until out of the corner of his eye he saw it and looked down at which point the color would die. There was another thing that would have given any mortal being the urgency to turn tail and run right out of there, an inky set of seven digits embedded into the flesh and bone of his wrist, the tattooed serial number of a convicted criminal.

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Oh, how the sound of this one's malign snarls made the Prince of the Fallen's heart give a slight beat as it washed over him. But he couldn't allow his facade of ignorance break just yet, when the time came, Lucifer would show his true colors. Right now? He was nothing more than a stupid, innocent by-stander wanting to lend a helping hand. So what if that helping hand wanted to toss this man's soul through the Gates? Throwing his hands up in front of him, he feigned terror from the strange change on the vampire's face. The dark eyes were wide with imitation fear as the vampire snapped at him. Watching with slight intrest that was hidden behind a face of cold fear, Lucifer's mind was whirling with the possibilities of this man. This anger! This rage inside of this one was too much to pass up indeed; now he just needed to bide his time. Dodging the debris that splintered from the charred wood, he sidestepped with a slight yelp and nearly laughed at the sound. Him yelping! It was too hillarious to him. Watching the top floor buckle and fall in on itself, he let a slight smirk reach his features as the vampire was turned away watching his own destruction. Yes, he was satisfied that he had found this one's rage. It was surely the icing on his blackened cake.

He was...a shell of himself. He felt overused, overworked, and underpaid; those thoughts he captured and threw back at Orin ten-fold. All Lucifer needed was to gain access to his thoughts; to tap into his rage and let it unleash on those that he wished. The desire to kill had him licking his own lips as he took a tenative step forward to relish in the basking glow of anger. Sly thoughts, crawled through the asperited-lined air, as he curled Orion's thoughts in a lacuna coil, just waiting for the right time to let the force spring forth to cause more destruction, more turmoil in this man's heart and mind. The sorrow this one felt was like tasting the skin of a beautiful woman in the throes of passion. Yes, he could used this against those that angered him; he would use this vampire, this poor man's heartbreak as his own weapon of choice. And when the time was right? He would unleash his Children and the rest of Hell with them, all the while Orion's anger and turmoil would be leading the way. How beautiful the idea was in his twisted mind as he watched the man's thoughts spin around and around in his broken head.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Lucifer dropped the pretense that he was a kind man wanting nothing more but to help Orion get over his issues of whatever the hell was bothering him. And that was another thing that he would find out soon enough. If he could use something as leverage on Orion, then by all damn means, he would. Laughing at the other man's words under his breath, he clapped his hands in applaus and roared with more laughter at the look on Orion's face as he did so. Did he appear to be off his rockers? Hell yes he did, and some of the Angels that had known him..intimately would say he was. Not that he denied that he wasn't or anything; he rather thought it a fun little game to play. Kicking aside a piece of wood that had flown towards him during Orion's fit of rage, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked him up and down. Good sound body, nice looks if need be, and a killer's walk to him. Yes, he would be using Orion for his own advantage in this world. Black eyes glinting like the dark pools of a well that never seemed to end, he bowed his head with a mocking, childish smile, and laughed again. "Now that you're over your little episode, why don't we talk?"

Smoothing his hands over his thighs, he cracked his neck and grinned. "You know, it's rare that I meet someone with so much..fucking rage! That bitter taste in your mouth that drives you to kill, that deadly glint in your eyes... It's rare, Orion. Very, very rare." Lucifer walked over to one of the last standing walls around them and leaned against it with a devil's grin that coudln't be mistaken for anything other than vile. "I have all the business in the world to be here. I need you, Orion Night. I need your rage, your anger...I could very well use you in this up and coming war I have planned out. Do you know what I could give you in return, my angry little friend?" His black eyes were swirling with Hellfire as he smirked at the vampire across from him. Spreading his arms wide, Lucifer snarled with satisfaction as he received notice that he had yet one more soul in his snare. "I can give you revenge. I can give you what you crave for most, if only you let me have your rage." No, he did not state the consequences of being one of his many souls that he claimed, but who wanted to hear about that when they could hear about all that he could offer them instead?

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Episode?... Episode?! Ohh, he was far from being done with his "episode". For the moment though he'd been sidetracked by the possibility that this being knew what it was talking to and more importantly whom it was talking to. "how do you know my name?..." Orion snapped, straightening up from his half crouched position by the few remaining pieces of the wavering charred frame, he was clearly not amused by Lucifer's jovial attitude to all this. Orion merely raised one eyebrow in a questioning glance, which was only emphasized by a slight head tilt as though for some reason he was bent physically out of shape, broken on the outside as well as on the inside. Curious as a new puppy from the pet shop, he'd momentarily forgotten the reason for his outburst or was that this creatures doing as well? Orion had already figured that this was not your average mortal being, he was after all of reasonable intelligence, more brain than brawn. Though having been pushed to his limits, asked to go beyond any normal levels of existence, had somewhat changed things in that regard. He no longer relied solely on his wits alone to win his battles for him, now he'd chosen to use his powerful strength more instead. Maybe this time round he wouldn't need to avenge her death, if it could even be called that anymore... the deception would have been a more fitting name.

The lies never ceased with her, did she even love him anymore? could she even remember having loved him in the first place or was that all a lie as well? Yet again he was forgetting the trespasser, what was wrong with him? he'd never been like this in his life, momentarily forgetting a threat when it was so very near... had he finally become suicidal? he chuckled lightly at that thought, greatly amused by his own dark thoughts. Was he going to consider this creatures proposal then? Would it even make a difference, when god himself couldn't even ressurrect that which he most desired? Any logical thought pattern that might have formed as a result of this thinking was quickly muted by a thick smokescreen. Unable to recall what he was even thinking about at the time, Orion took a tentative step forwards careful not to appear too domineering or to let his guard down either, he didn't like how suddenly vulnerable he'd become. Alarm bells sounded in his head and for one blindingly unequal moment, he thought he'd fallen through the surface of a frozen lake. The icy chill surrounded his heart and he crumpled in on himself before he could even utter another word to the newcomer, the only sound that could be heard from his body was a low hiss that quickly became a ferocious snarling beast, as he recovered from the unwelcome effects of his beloved ghost.

Ohh, how he hated her. It should never have been like this, she should have been his for eternity. Her soul in exchange for his, he would have died for her if she'd given him the chance but that was all part of her bitter little plan wasn't it? to deprive him, to deceive him and leave him wanting like a recovering junkie after its next fix. He was addicted to her perfect little white lacy dress that billowed out behind her as she walked ever so casually over to greet him, her perfectly golden hair much the same shimmering silver in the pale moonlight, her perfectly narrowed expression as her piercing slate gray eyes locked on him and him alone. How he reveled in that look of disgust and bitter revulsion etched across her face, did she feel anything other than hatred for him now? The answer came all too swiftly, crashing into his mental consciousness like a massive tidal wave and he flinched at the anger in her perfect angel voice. How could he do this to her? how could he even think of trying something like this... he sent his own answer in short brutal stabs, his words carefully chosen for effect as she stormed even closer almost baring down on him now though she was a few good inches shorter.

The emptiness he felt drowned out all her surging happiness, there was nothing to hold her emotions in place, they all washed over him and faded into the background. What was wrong with him? only hours ago he'd have given anything to feel those warm happy thoughts mix with his. Then he suddenly realized he wasn't standing next to her anymore... he'd moved over to Lucifer's side, the dark side no longer seemed a forbidden scary place, it seemed almost righteous, somehow justified given what he'd been through for her. The look on her face was priceless in his new twisted mindset, she'd been unable to stop him, his speed was too great for her to challenge or command, the look of rejection on her face was ust as delightful and the wave of guilt and hurt hovering mist-like over his consciousness from her direction was almost tantalizing. All that compared little though to the anger now surging strongly through his own veins, it begged him to do something about it. As though ripping her apart would somehow ease his suffering and the worse part in his mind was that he'd enjoy it, maybe not as much as she enjoyed watching him suffer from her heavenly station but enough to heal his buried scars. Then it hit him, the barrage of frenzied thoughts some not even his own...

"Do it... you know you want to... hurt her, like she hurt you..."

"Are you insane?!... you could never hurt her, no matter what she's done to you..."

"No, you must... look at what she's done to you! Just look at what she's reduced you to doing!"

The vicious snarling returned, he was confused, hurt and feeling for once in his miserable lifetime quite spiteful. There was no more time for thought, no more time for 'what ifs' he had to release this burning tension, this black ice around his heart stabbing and tearing at his insides. In the blink of an eye he was at her throat, Vampire versus Angel. Orion fighting tooth and claw, Suriel defending with blood and water... every strike Orion managed to land did little to her, she'd vaporize into a liquid puddle every time he came near. Hiding amongst her god given talent, in the hopes that with enough mental persuasion he'd drop this ridiculous charade and that Lucifers temporary hold on him would quickly fade. Her little talisman had no protection for this eventuality, of all the useless items she could have given him, of all the charms she could have saved... why was he doing this now? She cried out for Orion to stop, when nothing else seemed to matter. He was becoming more and more frustrated by the minute, as she dodged every well placed kick and every heartfelt punch, physical attacks she could avoid easily but as soon as he figured out that their bond was more than thoughts and feelings, more than physical attraction or emotion combined...

Suddenly he stopped, understanding exactly where her train of thought was going long before she'd gotten there. He understood now how to hurt her, how to hurt her like no one else could... how no mortal or immortal being ever would. He could kill her if he wanted to... she screamed, writhing in pain as he dredged up every accursed memory he could think of from that time without life, without a ghost or a soul or even a spirit. Life or even gruesome death without her was nothing. The screaming only got louder, as she crumpled into a bloody heap, every bitterly vacant thought tore through her flesh like a knife, every heart jerking moment riddled her body with bullet holes she could not heal. His imprisonment for having supposedly murdered her, his solitary confinement without a hope of life after wards or since, his own torturous hell before her arrival and then the worst still... the most awful of his memories the one that would also kill him if he managed to release it. Ahh, but the best part of all this pain and suffering at Suriel's expense wasn't that he was finally getting revenge for that night, for her evil deception and her lies but that none of this was private. All of his memories and hers flashed across the void between them like a projected movie screen of their lives, as Suriel quickly tried to fill it with her own. The good times and the bad that had seen them thrive, she didn't know where they all came from, she was sure she had no recollection of half of this before he'd attacked her. Was this some kind of inbuilt defense? then it all stopped, the pain he'd been increasing in steady doses was suddenly gone. Suriel was left reeling as she tried feebly to remember which memory she had used to halt the flow of brutal attacks.

Gasping for breath, as she choked on her own gurgling flow blood, suri tried pathetically to get air circulating to her brain. What was the last image? why was he looking at her like that... like his own life depended on her sorry state of affairs? Did he stop because he knew it would affect him too if she were to die or did he do it because he'd made her suffer enough? An inch from death seemed hardly equivalent but when she took into account what that would mean to a mortal being, not quite as immortal as an angel and yet not as mortal as a human, she could almost reach a greater level of understanding for what he'd been through. At that moment it wasn't the end of pain that filled her thoughts, it was the look of pure sorrow in his endlessly captivating ocean-colored eyes that held her attention. In that instant she wanted to ease his pain in anyway possible even if it meant her own death, was that truly what he wanted though? for a moment he seemed undecided, though she could no longer read his thoughts, for some unknown reason they were hidden from her and a new sensation crept over her huddled form. Warm and tingling as though she'd been left outside in a blizzard and only just now had she been reunited with a blanket, like a soft glowing fire with wavering flames steadily burning she felt something unusual something strangely familiar and yet totally foreign... Love. He really did love her. Even after all the pain and suffering she'd caused... he still loved her more than his own well-being, more than his own life... was that the key to breaking Lucifer's hold... love!?

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Oh this was just too rich.The vampire was having a literal breakdown and all he could do was eat it up bit by fucking bit. Who would have thought that tonight would lead him here? Ah, but how could he not know Orion Nigh's name? The man had called Lucifer though he know it or not, by his constant state of deadness. That deep, dark state in which the vampire now lived in every night was what Lucifer fed off of. It was what made him thrive and continue to cause hell to rise every chance he got. And if someone were to get in the way? Well they better be fucking ready, because the Devil was out for blood. Knowing that Orion was the way he was now....Oh yes, he could be used alright and used until he had every ounce of his anger in his own grasps. "I know you because you know me, Orion. You know me very well." The vamp was pissed but who the hell cared? He liked anger obvioiusly, why else would he be here? Orion looked like a broken pice of shit....literally and figuratively. The idea that he was so broken already had Lucifer licking his chomps as he watched the vampire's expression turn from anger to one of pure curiousity. Man people really didn't know what kind of fuck he was, did they? Good thing no one read the Good Book anymore.

Lucifer smiled sinisterly; the expression turning his face from thoughtful to evil in about five seconds flat. That's right, he just needed Orion to break down a little more in the old noggin'. His woman, a little White angel it seemed, meant nothing to him anymore. The bitch betrayed him... Lucifer pushed those destructive thoughts into Orion's mind, seeking a weak point to where he could overtake the vampire and make him his new puppet. He had Lailah no longer...for now anyway, and he wanted something new. The power Orion displayed...it made him hungry for more. The confusion Orion was feeling made both men laugh under their breaths because it was becoming rather like a fucking sitcom watching Orion laugh at himself. Ah yes, if he continued on this path, he would be just as screwed up as the Devil himself and wouldn't it just be oh so much fun if he had someone to play with? Orion could have all the revenge he wanted, take what ever he needed, and have no one question him. For while the Angels, his ex-brothers and sisters, believed that their precious Daddy Dearest had him under his thumb, it was not so. Lucifer was making a comeback and it's called Karma bitch. That fucking Angel of Mercy Malachi and his ex-lover Lailah were on his shit list and he would be seeing them first. He just couldn't wait for Malachi to find out what he had in store for hiim and his precious fucking Lailah. Come to think of it...he might even hit up Chi's new lady. That'd be fun.

That sound! Lucifer bent over double when Orion was finally overcome by his icy grip. Yes, it hurt like a bitch to have his heart torn out by the Devil, but hey, it was all a part of the game everyone played. Orion was just a wee bit more vulnerable than others right now. He could have let out a victorious yell as the vampire began to see things his way and moved to his side. "Come, Orion. You know what she did to you. She never fucking loved you; it was all a game, my brother. A game." Yes, a little game set up for him to fall down in the end. If only everyone in the world would come to him this easily, this damn readily. To see the angel in Orion's mind appear crestfallen, horrified with her vampire, made him laugh. The rejection was like candy to the Devil who sat back on his heels laughing like a screwed up madman. Which of course he was and would gladly tell anyone so if they asked or wanted to know. Anger surged through the vampire, and he fed off it again. The power flowed through his viens, making him appear healthier, almost glowing as he watched the vampire struggle with what was happening and could not be stopped.

Do it...you know you want to...hurt her, like she hurt you.
C'mon, she did you in, Orion. She's the one that destroyed you and everything you are!
Just look at what you are now!

He would do anything to get Orion in his hold. That even included messing his mind up to the point that the vampire was linothing more than a pile of mush left for him to mold. The black ice surrounded the vampire's soul, snufing out any inch of light left insidde of his body or mind. That little fucktard of an angel was giving him hell and if she kept it up, she would be on his favorite shit list too. Her powers had no hold over him, but she could very well make Orion change what was left of his mind. Taking another plunge into his own black heart, Lucifer poured hate, anger, depression, and desperation into Orion as he fought tooth and nail with the angel. The little bitch was putting up a good fight, but he WOULD win. Maybe not this time, but he would win at some point in Orion's screwed up life.

"That's it, Orion. Show that bitch how it felt every time she fucked you over." The Devil's psychotic laughter rang like the sound of a poorly beaten drum that had seen better days. Now the immortal understood how he could hurt her and he was using every ounce, every fiber, of his being to do so. The pleasure Lucifer felt from Suriel's pain breathed in new life to his host's dying body. He wanted to pick the bitch up and strangle her when her own happy memories were thrown out there for Orion. What the hell was she thinking by trying to save an already broken toy soldier? The man had no soul left, barely enough for him to twist and bend, and yet here she was trying her damnest to give Orion love? Scowling, Lucifer gripped her tighty in his mind and gave her his own dose of medicince which could potientally knock her bloody socks off if she was weak enough for his control to take over. Orion was his now, or could be, if she would just give him up

What the hell was going on? LOVE?!? Fucking love beat him? The Sin of all Sins? The Devil himself? The frustration took a hold of Lucifer as the sickening realization that love could in fact beat him at his own game washed over him. Such a simple, ugly thing had thrown off the chains of his agression, his vice grip, as if it were no more than a fly to be swatted at. Almost gagging, the Devil stepped away from the scene with horror written on his face. What if the others of Suri's kind figured out that such a stupid thing could in fact take care of him so easily? Would it destroy him forever? Growling under his breath, he watched as Orion became the man he once was thanks to his beloved feathered bitch."Don't let her trick you! She's the one that turned you into this monster!" Lucifer tried desperately to gain hold over Orion again, but that warm sickening feeling of love nearly made him lose it right then and there. What the hell was he supposed to do now that she had made the connection between him and his weakness? He would have to kill her, not that he ever had a problem with death, but would she be able to get word out? Screaming as if in pain, the Devil tugged at Orion's mind and refilled it with the pain and suffering he had felt all these years and doubled it. "Remember my brother!" he hissed into the dark air around them as the room began to chill and he struck out at the little angel with menace and death in store for her. "You will not win!"